Say Your Name
by AFincorporated
Summary: Lou Cardinal went missing six months ago. Her best friends Dewey and Cass have tracked her to Slovakia, to find her experimented on by HYDRA and with no memories of who she is or where she's from. The only thing she remembers is her mission: kill the Avengers. But all Dewey and Cass want is their friend back. Their only hope is SHIELD, but it's a long path home. T for swearing.
1. Chase the ace

**AN: I don't own the Avengers. I know this chapter doesn't actually have the Avengers in it, but this is an Avengers fic. This is like a prologue.**

She sat on the hood of a battered jeep, one sleeve of her shirt pulled up to her shoulder. He crouched next to her, holding her sleeve up so he could see the bullet wound in her forearm. "You should've said something sooner." The jeep was parked in a dirty alley. A third person must be there, because a pair of pink hiking boots and jeans were visible behind the jeep. Her entire upper body was under the hood.

The girl sitting on the hood winced. "We don't have time for this."

"You shouldn't have run into trouble like that again." The boy said. "You could've been killed."

"But I wasn't." The girl said coldly. "Besides, one of us had to do something." The boy scowled, fishing through the backpack leaned against the jeep. He pulled out a pair of tweezers and a rag.

"We shouldn't have done this without a better plan, or backup." He said, handing her the rag. She stuffed it into her mouth. "Sorry about this." He slid the tweezers into the bullet wound. The boy winced sympathetically, but the girl didn't even wince. She made no sound. "Sorry…" He pulled the tweezers out, holding up a shard of metal. "Got the bullet."

The girl nodded briskly. He wrapped her arm with gauze, using a piece of duct tape to hold the gauze in place. He tugged the rag out of her mouth, her eyes watering. "That could've been so much worse, Lou."

"Don't call me Lou." The girl snapped, yanking her arm away with a sudden flare of anger. "That isn't my name."

"I know you can't remember," The boy sighed, sitting back on his haunches. "But your name is Louisa. Everyone calls you Lou."

"That is not my name!" The girl, Lou, hissed. She stood up. "I have already told you. My name is-"

"Hey!" The third person pulled themselves out of the back of the jeep. It was another girl, the same age as Lou and the boy. "Engines fixed. The bullets didn't hurt anything important. We should go."

"We're ready, Cass." The boy said, nodding. He tossed his medical supplies into his backpack, slinging it over one shoulder and standing up. "Is the coast clear?"

"How the hell should I know?" Cass rolled her eyes. Lou pulled her sleeve down over the gauze and tugged on a black leather jacket.

"I can eliminate them." Lou said. Cass raised an eyebrow, and the boy shifted nervously.

"Or we could not do that." Cass suggested. "This is a good car. We can just outrun 'em. Get far enough away they can't get to us again."

"Cass-" The boy started to protest.

"Just come on." Cass said, slamming the back of the jeep shut. "We're getting the heck out of this stupid country."

Lou's frown deepened, but the boy followed Cass's lead, moving to the driver's side door. When Lou didn't follow as well, he turned with a worried look. "What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"I don't know you. I can't just leave with you." Lou said suspiciously. "I know HYDRA."

"I don't know much about HYDRA. But I do know what they did to you. And you might not know us, but we know you. Your name is Louisa Cardinal. My name is Dewey, and our friend is Cass. We are your friends, even if HYDRA wiped your memories of us. Please, Lou-"

"Stop calling me that!" Lou burst out. "My name isn't Lou, dammit!"

"Then what is it?" Dewey demanded.

"My name is Siafu. The Siafu Soldier."

Dewey looked confused. "Like the poisonous ants?"

She glowered at him. "Like the type of poisonous ant known for overwhelming a victim and clamping their jaws into their flesh, even known to kill humans? Yes."

"Um, yeah." Dewey looked a little sickened. "We have to go." He turned and slung himself into the jeep.

Cass was already waiting in the rental car and looking scared, impatient, and haughty all at the same time. She raised a questioning eyebrow at Dewey, who shook his head.

Cass had short dark brown hair in two messy braids, and a few loose curls coming out from under her black ski cap. She had a round kind face and dark brown eyes, and light skin turning pink in the cold. She was of medium height, and was built sturdily but wasn't overweight, just strong. She wore jeans with patches on each knee, black fingerless gloves, pink hiking boots covered in mud, a fitted black t-shirt, and an army fatigue jacket. Hung on a chain around her neck was several dog tags that were starting to loose their shine.

"About time." Cass said as Lou (or the Siafu Soldier) climbed into the backseat. "Okay," Cass said, starting the jeep. "We just make it to the airport, hightail it back to Chicago. Any alternate plans?" Dewey shrugged.

"I'm not going to Chicago." Lou said suddenly. The other two exchanged a worried look.

"Lou, we're from Chicago. It's our home. We live there, with our families. Your parents are worried sick about you, and ours will call the police if we don't get back from our "school trip" on the right day. We have to go to Chicago." Dewey said, trying to sound comforting.

"He's right, Lou. Chicago's-" Cass started to say.

"That isn't my name!" Lou screamed, and she twisted, kicking the car door. It was ripped off it's hinges and slammed into the side of the alley with a loud bang. "I am not going to Chicago! We are going to New York City!"

"What are we supposed to do in New York City?" Dewey asked.

"What did you do to the car!" Cass demanded. "That was crazy."

"I already told you about my leg, and hand, didn't I?" Lou said, and the other two didn't answer. "And we are going to New York City because of my mission. The mission HYDRA gave me."

"What mission would that be?" Cass demanded, twisting around in her seat to meet Lou's eyes.

"To kill the Avengers."

 _One week earlier, Chicago Illinois_

Dewey was woken up by his phone buzzing with Cass's ringtone. He lifted his head off his pillow, searching blearily for the phone. It had fallen off the blankets onto the floor, and he picked it up. "Cass? 'S three in th' morning…" He mumbled, wiping sleep out of his eyes.

"Dew, I got something. I got a hit. She's in Slokovia. Her face was on a traffic cam. Dew, we gotta go to Slokovia."

 _Six months earlier, Chicago Illinois_

Dewey banged on the back door of Lou's house, the way he did everyday after school. Cass climbed the stairs a few feet behind him, the way she always did. And Lou always threw the screen door open and invited them in. But today the house was silent.

"Is something wrong?" Dewey wondered, peering through one of the windows.

"She would've texted me." Cass shrugged. "Maybe delinquent school ran late."

Dewey shot her a look, reminding her not to call it that. It wasn't Lou's fault she had gotten kicked out of the school where Dewey and Cass went, and the only other school close enough was for child delinquents. Lou was the kindest friendliest person they knew, but Cass wasn't funny.

They knocked again, and a few minutes later the door swung open slowly. Lou's mother stood in the doorway, looking tired. There were bags under her puffy red eyes, she looked miserable, and she was dirty and missing her usual makeup. She and Lou looked similar; the same jet-black hair, the same light hazel eyes, the same high cheekbones and tall figure. But Lou wasn't with her mother.

"Cass, Dewey. What are you doing here?" Lou's mother rasped.

"We… always come here?" Dewey asked.

"Isn't Lou around?" Cass asked impatiently.

"You mean you haven't heard?" Lou's mother looked surprised, but that didn't mean she was any less miserable-looking. "You haven't heard about Lou?"

Cass and Dewey felt nothing but dread. Cass grabbed Dewey's hand for reassurance, and the pair of them waited for the woman to tell them what was going on. But instead she sank to her knees in the doorway, crying.

A shooter had stormed into Lou's school that morning. Before he could shoot anyone, Lou had tazed him. The police had come, and taken Lou and the shooter to the police station. But on the way there, the police car that Lou had been riding in had been hijacked. Someone had taken her, and nobody knew why.

 _Because she stopped the shooter?_ Dewey wondered. But he promised himself something; he would find Lou. He would find Lou no matter what, and bring her home.

 **AN: Thanks for reading. Please review or favorite/follow.**


	2. Carry me home

**AN: I don't own the Avengers.**

Dewey and Cass sat in silence in the front of their car. They were eating McDonalds and waiting for Lou, asleep in the backseat, to wake up. They were parked half a block from Avengers Tower, on a stakeout. Lou seemed to know what she was doing, and had told them to wait until she told them the time was right. Then she had fallen asleep.

Cass was glaring at her cheeseburger. Dewey had noticed. "What's wrong?" He asked, taking a sip of his milkshake.

"This is bad." Cass grumbled.

"What's the matter, know the cow personally?" Dewey laughed a little, but Cass didn't seem any better.  
"Not the burger. This." She motioned her hand around the car, taking in the whole city. Expressing the enormity of their whole messed-up situation. "What are we doing here, Dew? How did we get here?"

Dewey hesitated. "We wanted to help our friend, Cassie. Lou needed help."

"I know!" Cass groaned. "That part I understood, and I stand by rescuing her. I wouldn't do it differently if I could. But that's not it either. We were supposed to rescue Lou from HYDRA and go home to Illinois. Instead we're sitting in a stolen car, staking out the headquarters of earth's freaking mightiest heroes. Lou wants to kill them. We won't be murderers, so what are we still doing here? We left Slovakia two weeks ago, Dew. My phone rang non-stop until it died, my aunt is probably having heart attacks. All so Lou can go throw things at Tony Stark? What is this for?" She took a deep breath after her rant, and stuffed her mouth full of cheeseburger.

"I don't know, Cassie." Dew said, leaning back and staring out the window of the car into the busy street. "Sometimes I think we should call the police on Lou. Sometimes I think we should knock her out and drag her all the way back to Illinois. But here we are."

"She's not Lou anymore." Cass said suddenly, and Dewey looked at her in confusion. "She was, but HYDRA stole everything that she is. She used to be… I dunno, you remember."

Dewey nodded. "She's not the same, I know. But she was kidnapped and experimented on, she has no memories, she lost a hand and a leg. Wouldn't anybody be changed?"

"I mentioned her mom the other day, she didn't recognize the name at all," Cass insisted. "She needs to go home. Her family can help her so much more then we can. We're almost out of cash, anyway."

"We can't leave Lou, Cass." Dewey insisted.

"I never said we should. We have to talk her into coming with us, is all." Cass said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I actually… I've been thinking about this for a few days, right?"

Dewey nodded, listening. Cass continued, "Well, I think we should tell the Avengers we're here. Like what's going on. They work against HYDRA, right? They can help her."

"Are you sure-" Dewey started to say, but suddenly stiffened. "Where's Lou?"

They twisted to see the backseat. Lou was gone. They scrambled out of the car, abandoning their happy meals. Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, they searched the crowds for their friend's face, or her black hair. But Lou wasn't there.

"She must've gone to the tower!" Cass hissed. "Dew, we have to stop her killing somebody!"

Dewey nodded, and started running. Cass broke into a sprint beside him, and they tore down the sidewalk. They shoved past people and dodged cars, desperately trying to reach the Avengers tower in time.

In front of the tower, they saw a man they recognized from the news. He climbed out of his taxi and walked towards the front doors. He had hazel eyes and light brown hair, and he wore old-fashioned clothes and a leather jacket. Captain America.

Then Lou was there, her metal hand hidden by her gloves. She punched him, and he deflected it, but a look of pain flashed across his face. He shouted something, and a woman flew out of the taxi after him. She had red hair and wore all-black, and they recognized her as the Black Widow. She grabbed Lou's arm, and Lou kicked her with her metal leg. She punched the red-haired woman, and she was thrown backward almost ten feet.

Lou backhanded Captain America, and there was a clang of metal. He was thrown to the ground, but people in black were coming out of the Tower. People were shouting and screaming and filming the fight on their phones while also trying to run away from it. The people in the black were struggling to restrain Lou, with the help of the Captain and the Black Widow.

Dewey and Cass stood across the street from the fight, watching in horror. "Come on!" Cass shouted, grabbing Dewey's hand and pulling him into the traffic. Cars honked and swerved, and they were almost hit several times, but they made it across. Ignoring the shouts of people on the street, they shoved through the crowd to the fighting.

"Stop!" Dewey shouted. Lou twisted her arm, throwing off one man in a black suit, throwing him into a car. He crumpled to the ground. "Lou, stop!"

Lou ignored them. Cass grimaced and dove into the fight.

Cass's parents had been marines, that had died three years before, when Cass was thirteen. But before he had joined the marines, her father had been a boxer. They had spent hours on the weekend sparring in the backyard. Cass had gotten her first pair of boxing gloves when she was six, and had won a couple of matches at the gym. But she had never needed her skills like this before.

She threw her purse at Dewey, who caught it without thinking, and threw herself into the fight. She tried to reach Lou, but three agents pulled her away from the fighting.

Cass cracked one woman's jaw, kicking her in the stomach so she doubled over. She twisted the gun out of one man's hand, cracking it across his head. He fell, letting her get closer to Lou. When the other people in suits saw the gun, they pulled back. Cass stood three feet from Lou, holding the gun straight at her friend's head. Dewey didn't know how her hand was steady.

"Lou!" Cass shouted. "Stop this! This isn't you!"

Lou snarled at her. "You are no threat to me. Cut off one head-"

"Two more grow back. Yeah, whatever. Don't care, buttercup." Cass snapped, not lowering the gun. Dewey found himself standing next to the two superheroes and the injured agents. Captain America made to step forward, but the Black Widow stopped him. She was watching Cass and Lou, like she wanted to see what they would do.

"Stand aside." Lou commanded. "I have my mission. The Avengers must die."

"Actually, I don't think so. Lou, stand down. This isn't you. HYDRA is inside your head, I know that, I understand. But you are not a killer! I won't let you hurt anyone else, even if you are my friend. Now stand down." The gun clicked, and Lou's totally calm expression filled with anger and confusion.

The snarl disappeared. Her eyes widened. Lou stumbled back. "Oh my god, Cass! Why do you have a gun? What have I… what have I done?" Lou's voice was raw and scared, and for the first time since they had found her in Slovakia, she sounded like the Lou they knew.

Cass lowered the gun, eyes wide. "Lou?"

Lou twisted the gun out of Cass's hand and kicked her in the stomach with her metal foot. Cass was thrown backward and slammed against the wall of Avengers tower, sliding to the ground.

"Cass!" Dewey shouted, pushing his way to her side. He crouched next to her, taking her pulse and checking her pupils. She was alive.

"Dew?" Cass asked, her voice slurred and confused. "Dew… what… Lou?"

Dewey glanced behind him. Lou was stalking toward them, and behind her Dewey saw something that made his blood run cold. Captain America and the Black Widow were on the ground, not moving. For a moment he thought they were dead, until he saw they were breathing.

Lou tore off her gloves, revealing her metal hand. "Surrender to HYDRA, Mr. Munroe." She snarled, using Dewey's last name. He was the only thing between Cass and… not Lou. The Siafu Soldier. That was who this girl in front of him was, and the realization made him want to scream or cry or hit something.

"Fuck off," Dewey snarled, shocked at his own words. Then two metal wires struck Lou, and she was electrocuted. She jolted and collapsed, twitching a little. "What-" He turned to see Cass loosely holding a taser.

"She… not… Dewey, I'm…" Cass slurred, slipping into unconsciousness. Dewey nodded.

"I know. I know. Hold on, Cassie, you'll be okay." He said, even though she had already passed out.

Not here. Dewey needed to get Cass away. Somewhere far away. In that moment, all he wanted in the world was to be safe at home in Illinois. Dewey had to get Cass home. Forget about Lou, the agents that crowded around her would find her a way home. He had to worry about Cass.

He slid his hands underneath her, lifting her up bridal style. He wasn't the strongest guy, but he was full of so much adrenaline it didn't matter. He carried her away from the crowd, and thankfully nobody stopped him. He saw a few agents look at him, and he went faster. They followed him, and he darted into the crowd. He turned around corners and took alleys, hiding in the shadows until he had lost them.

Then he carried Cass to the car. He got a lot of strange looks from the people he passed, but he was too tired to care what they thought. He didn't even care if they called the police on him. With the adrenaline draining out of his system, Cass got heavier with every step.

He set her down carefully in the backseat, and took her place behind the wheel of the rental car. Dewey was taking them home.


	3. Shake a leg

**AN: I don't own the Avengers. Thanks for reading my story, people! Also, has anyone noticed the chapter titles?**

 _ **Reidak Tor Pre Vizsla III:**_ **I don't really want to add any more OC's to the story. I want it to be just my three characters and Marvel characters. Sorry, and thanks for reading.**

Natasha Romanoff frowned slightly as she watched the girl in the holding cell. Her fingers twitched over the button to turn off the security feed on the screen, because she knew she shouldn't obsess over this. But at least she wasn't as bad as Steve was. He hadn't stopped "keeping an eye" on the girl since they had brought her in.

Natasha wasn't worried about the girl. Tony was running facial recognition on the entire internet; eventually they would find a name to match with the face. She had told them that her name was the Siafu Soldier, but the girl who had faced her the night before had called her Lou. So had the boy.

Nobody on the scene had gotten a clear picture of the boy, but they had a frame from a video a bystander had taken on their phone of the fight, and had the second girl's face. Tony was searching for her as well. It was only a matter of time.

"Hey," Bruce said, walking into the room. He glanced at the security feed she was watching. On the screen, the girl (Lou or the Siafu Soldier or whatever her name was) was pacing in her holding cell. Occasionally she would punch the wall, and wouldn't even flinch. Her metal hand just made a loud sound and whirred. "We checked out her leg and hand more thoroughly."

Natasha looked at him, telling him to go on without speaking.

"Someone repaired it, someone that wasn't HYDRA. I think it was one of the other two teenagers that knew her. But they would need a lot of technical skill to do it."

"How do you know it wasn't HYDRA?" Natasha asked, turning back to the security feed.

"It wasn't as sophisticated. More… childish, almost." Bruce explained, watching the security feed over her shoulder. "It won't help to obsess over this, you know."

But Natasha couldn't help it. She and Steve had been taken down by a fifteen-year-old. They should've been able to take her down, but they hadn't. "Lou" probably would've killed them if she hadn't been occupied with the other two kids. The very thought made her grit her teeth. She should've known better, been faster, been smarter….

"It wasn't your fault." Bruce said softly, reading her thoughts. "You couldn't have known she was coming, or how skilled she was. You can't always win, Natasha."

Natasha didn't look up at him. "I shouldn't have underestimated her. I was at her mercy, she could've killed me had she wanted to. Steve got hurt as well, because I couldn't face a child."

Bruce shrugged. "You need to get some sleep." They both knew Natasha wasn't leaving. "And something to eat." He set a plate on the desk next to her; tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. "Don't worry, we'll find her friends and figure this out."

Natasha nodded, but she couldn't help but be surprised by the kindness in his voice, and the food he had brought her, and the slight blush that crept onto his face. He left the room at Natasha's muttered, "Thanks." Leaving her alone with the security feed.

 _Edinboro, Pennsylvania_

Dewey carefully balanced a soda on the dashboard of the jeep, holding his own in his other hand. The front hood of the car was open, and cursing was coming from underneath it. Cass was having trouble with the car's engine.

"I got Taco Bell." He announced, and the cursing stopped.

Cass's head appeared from under the hood, a streak of engine grease on one cheek. Her dark brown hair was tangled and tied in two ponytails to keep it out of her eyes, and she had lost her ski cap at sometime during last night's fight. She wore mechanic's murky green overalls, with the top tied around her waist, wearing a black spaghetti strap top and (as always) had the dog tags hanging around her neck. "About time." Cass said. "I'm half starved,"

She sat on the trunk of the car with Dewey, and he handed her a taco and her soda.

"How's the engine coming?" Dewey asked hopefully.

Edinboro Pennsylvania was farther then he should've been able to make it in one night of driving, honestly. Dewey wasn't sure how he had done it, but somehow after almost eight hours of driving he had gotten them across the state border and to this town. He had parked in the first side street he found and passed out in the front seat. The next morning, the car wouldn't start. But on the upside, Cass was back on her feet with only a headache and a few bruises. Dewey was relieved; he had expected it to be much worse.

"Fine. Should be ready in ten minutes, around that." Cass assured him, after swallowing her huge bite of taco. "How much money we have left, Dew?"

Dewey hesitated. "Not so much."

Cass raised an eyebrow. "How much is not so much?"

"Forty bucks."

Cass choked on her taco. "Twenty bucks? Dew, we're three states away. What about gas money? And food? And toll booth fees?"

"I know." He groaned. "But our bank accounts were emptied out by the flight to Slovakia, even with three layovers. And after another two weeks, we used everything. Forty bucks is literally all the money the two of us own. In the world."

Cass let out a long sigh and laid back on the trunk of the car. "Do you think all of this was worth it? Terrifying our families, lying to them, going broke, getting in hot water with the Avengers… was all of this worth it to help Lou?"

"Yes." Dewey said without hesitation. He knew that Cass didn't mean what she said; neither of them regretted rescuing their friend. "She would still be tortured in a HYDRA facility right now if we had left her."

Cass nodded. "Forty bucks, though…" She groaned. "Can we make it?"

"Course we can." Dewey said confidently. "We made it this far."

Cass broke into a grin. "As far as teenage rebellion goes, this is pretty much boss."

"What did we do, in all?" Dewey asked, trying to come up with a list.

"Okay, let me think;" Cass said, grinning. She counted on her fingers. "We ran away from home, flew to Slovakia on a hunch, stole a car, broke into a HYDRA facility, busted out Lou, flew to New York City, stayed there for two weeks planning murder, got into a fistfight with government agents and the freaking _Avengers_ …" She trailed off, the smile sliding from her face. "They're gonna find us, Dew."

"I know." Dewey sighed. "But we did what was right. And we didn't let Lou hurt anyone."

"I pointed a gun at her head." Cass said, sounding ashamed and sort of panicked. "I pointed a _gun_ at her _head_."

"You did what you had to. And what's important is that you didn't pull the trigger." Dewey said, though he wasn't sure of his own words. Dewey was a Buddhist, and he didn't know what to make of the last few weeks. Did he have good karma, for helping his friend, or bad karma for running away and terrifying his parents? Good for trying to get Cass home safe, or bad for leaving Lou? He had no idea. All he was was confused.

"SHIELD will get her back to Chicago, right? And give her her memories back?" Cass worried.

"I think so. They're the good guys." Dewey said, but he felt like he was lying. He had no idea if SHIELD could restore Lou's memories or not.

Cass knew he didn't know, but she nodded and slid off the car. "I'll finish up with the engine, and we can go."

 _New York City, New York_

Tony skidded into the living room of Avengers Tower, were Steve and Thor were watching TV. "Guys, I got a hit." He said, grinning and holding up his StarkPad so they could see the frozen screen.

It showed the front of a dirty honda, idling at an intersection. The image was at a slight angle, but Tony pointed at the teenage girl in the passenger seat. "It's her, the girl from last night."

"Where are they?" Steve said, already on his feet.

"Pennsylvania."

 _Edinboro, Pennsylvania_

Dewey insisted on driving, since Cass still had a splitting headache. They both saved half their lunches, knowing they didn't have enough money for three meals a day. They would eat the rest for dinner later.

They drove out of the town, and no sooner where they on the highway again then something lit up the noonday sky over Pennsylvania. It flashed red and gold in the sun.

"Ironman." Cass breathed, pressing her face against her window to watch him head for town. "How did they know we were there?"

"Dunno." Dewey said, pressing his foot down on the gas. "But they almost caught up to us. I'll feel a lot better when we're back in Chicago, and don't have to keep looking over our shoulders."

Cass nodded her agreement. "Let's get home. Before the Avengers catch up with us."

 **AN: thanks for reading! Thanks so much for bothering with this. Please follow/favorite, and I love it when people review. It's really nice to know somebody is actually reading this stuff. See ya next time!**


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